Development of an integrated system for rapid detection of biological agents

Weaponized biological agents are as great a threat as nuclear or chemical weapons. They must be detected at the earliest stage to prevent diffusion because once these agents are dispersed into the air, the rapidly decreasing concentration makes detection more of a challenge. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is a common method to create copies of a specific target region of a DNA sequence and to produce large quantities of DNA molecules. A few DNA molecules are rapidly amplified by PCR into billions of copies. While PCR is a powerful technique and is capable of countering new threats relatively easily, it is plagued by the number of processes necessary. Therefore, we have developed an integrated PCR system for rapid detection of biological agents captured from the air. Each processing function is performed by a dedicated module, and reduction in the process time has been made the top priority, without loss in the signal/noise ratio of the total system. Agents can be identified within 15 min from capture. A fully automated operation protects operators from exposure to potentially highly lethal samples.